Abstract
Secondary manifestations of spinal cord injury beyond motor and sensory dysfunction can negatively affect a person’s quality of life. Spinal cord injury is associated with an increased incidence of depression and anxiety; however, the mechanisms of this relationship are currently not well understood. Human and animal studies suggest that changes in the composition of the intestinal microbiota (dysbiosis) are associated with mood disorders. The objective of the current study is to establish a model of anxiety following a cervical contusion spinal cord injury in rats and to determine whether the microbiota play a role in the observed behavioural changes. We found that spinal cord injury caused dysbiosis and increased symptoms of anxiety-like behaviour. Treatment with a fecal transplant prevented both spinal cord injury-induced dysbiosis as well as the development of anxiety-like behaviour. These results indicate that an incomplete unilateral cervical spinal cord injury can cause affective disorders and intestinal dysbiosis, and that both can be prevented by treatment with fecal transplant therapy.
Highlights
Spinal cord injury (SCI) results in paralysis, autonomic dysfunction and loss of sensation below the level of injury
The present results show that a unilateral cervical spinal contusion in rats induces a transient change in the microbiota composition that returns to baseline within 4 weeks
We show that this SCI-induced gut dysbiosis is involved in the development of anxiety-like behaviour following SCI, since both gut dysbiosis and anxiety-like behaviours were significantly reduced following treatment with an fecal microbiota transplant (FMT)
Summary
Spinal cord injury (SCI) results in paralysis, autonomic dysfunction and loss of sensation below the level of injury. In addition to physical and sensory impairments, SCI is associated with an increased prevalence of anxiety and depression, a reduced quality of life [1,2] and a high risk of suicide [3]. The link between SCI and affective disorders must be further elucidated. Given the drastic lifestyle changes and complications such as pain and autonomic dysfunction associated with SCI, it is likely that psychosocial factors are involved in the etiology of depression and anxiety after injury [4]. Evidence suggests that biological changes caused by central nervous system injury can contribute to the development of mood disorders [5,6]
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